Summer of Spike

by Wildcard25

A New Friend

The very next day at noon, Spike had just got ready and headed out to meet up with his pals and Dante in the park. One by one, he met up with each of his pals, before they walked together into the park.

Spike looked before spotting Dante sitting on a bench waiting for them, "There he is. Hey, Dante!"

Dante looked up and saw Spike with his entourage, "Hey." he greeted them.

"Dante this is Puck, Featherweight, Pipsqueak, Koda, and Twistin'," Spike introduced him, "Guys, this is Dante."

"Nice to meetcha." Puck greeted him.

"Hi." Featherweight greeted.

"Yo." Pipsqueak greeted.

"Hey." Koda greeted.

"Sup, man?" Twistin' greeted.

"Hey." Dante greeted them back.

"So Spike says you've had a run of bad luck in the department of friends." Twistin' began.

"That's an understatement." Dante replied.

"Well, we're here to fix that." Puck said.

"Hang out with us, and you'll feel like a new guy." Pipsqueak added.

"If you say so." Dante said dryly.

"Well, ain't he a ray of sunshine?" Koda whispered to Spike.

"Give it time." Spike whispered back.

"So what should we do on our day out?" Dante asked.

"First off, let's get some grub." Twistin' suggested.

"Sounds great to me." Puck admitted.

"For sure." Spike agreed.

"Then let's go." Featherweight said, as the group started walking through the park.

Soon they were at a fast food joint having burgers with baskets of fries, "Oh, yeah, this stuff is good." Pipsqueak said, as he ate his burger.

"This is paradise." Puck added, before sipping his drink.

"You got that right." Spike said, as he ate some fries.

Dante who had been taking a bite out of his burger spoke, "The food here is quite tasty." he admitted.

"Yeah, I mean in terms of fast food," Twistin's spoke, "If you're looking for sugary treats then Sugarcube Corner is the place to be."

"And let's not forget Joe's," Spike put in, "The best doughnuts and coffee in town."

"I've eaten there, and I do agree." Dante nodded.

"So according to Spike, you draw?" Featherweight asked.

"That's right," I brought some samples to look at. Well, if you're interested." Dante said.

"Hey, I'd like to see." Spike said.

"Me too." Koda added.

"Ok." Dante said, as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a sketchbook.

He started showing them certain sketches ranging from scenery, landscapes, objects, even people. With each page turned, the boys continued to look in fascination.

"Wow, you really drew these?" Featherweight asked.

"Of course."

"These are really good." Puck admitted.

"Oh, go on."

"I'm serious. I've never seen anyone who draw this good." Puck replied.

"Neither have I." Twistin' added.

"Well, thanks. It's been awhile since someone actually appreciated my works." Dante said, as he started feeling glad.

"Anything else you do?" Koda asked.

"Well, I do love video games, especially RP ones."

"Hey, so do we." Pipsqueak said.

"What's you're favorite?" Twistin' asked.

"Guardians of Galgavor."

"We love that game!" they cried.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we're all-stars there. And you?" Spike asked.

"Well, I can't exactly call myself an all-star, but I am a natural."

"Hey, you know all this video game talk has me thinking," Puck said, "Let's head for the arcade after this."

"Great idea." Twistin' smiled, as the others started to agree.

"How about it, Dante?" Spike asked.

"Hey, count me in."

"Great." So after they had their lunch, they headed for the local arcade.

Inside, they all went to a video game of their choosing and were even competing with one another. Spike was playing a fighting game against Dante, Puck was doing table hockey with another challenger, Pipsqueak and Koda were in a race car game, Featherweight was doing skee ball, and Twistin' was playing a zombie shooting game.

"You're real good, Dante. You're a hell of a player." Spike admitted, as his avatar was fighting against Dante's.

"Thanks, you too. I used to do this with my old friends, until they..."

"Look, Dante, the past is in the past," Spike began, "We may not be able to replace the friends you knew back then. Hell we're not really trying to. We just want to show you not all friends will forget about you."

"And I appreciate you guys doing this for me. This has to have been the most fun I've had in a 'long' long time."

"Well, we're glad to hear you're enjoying it," Spike said, until his avatar lost the match, "What?!"

"Oh, yeah!" Dante cheered.

Spike looked at him, "Not bad at all."

"Thanks, you put up a hell of a fight too."

"We should do this again." Spike recommended.

"I think so too."

"Yeah!" Puck called from the air hockey table signaling his victory.

"Booyah!" Koda cheered, as Pipsqueak groaned.

"Yes!" Featherweight called, as he landed a high score on skee ball.

"I am the zombie predator!" Twistin' held the game gun up in victory. Spike and Dante chuckled at how much fun they were having just like they were.

When they were done at the arcade, they continued exploring around town with no real plan. They just let the wind guide them, and Dante didn't seem to mind as he was starting to have too much fun with the guys to even care what they were doing. Everywhere they went they were having laughs, shooting the breeze, just like they always did. To Dante he was starting to truly remember what it was like to truly have friends.

Soon the seven were walking along feeling pleased with how their day's been going, until a group of seven teens about Twistin's age, wearing jackets with an insect creature emblem on the backs.

"Hey, you're wandering into our turf." one called them out.

"Your turf?" Puck asked.

"We're the Changeling gang, and we don't take kindly to strangers who come around here." another warned them.

"Hey, if that's the case we'll just be moving along and out of your turf." Twistin' offered, as they tried to go around, only for them to get blocked off.

"You ain't getting off that easy."

"Look, we got places to be so just get out of our way and there won't be trouble." Spike argued.

"But we love trouble." one said, with a smirk.

"Guys, what do we do?" Featherweight asked, as he started trembling.

"Stay calm." Twistin' ordered.

"Easier said than done." Pipsqueak said, seeing how older the gang looked.

"Get 'em!" one ordered, as the seven started fighting them, with Twistin managing against his opponent, while the younger boys were having a bit of a tough time.

Dante was grappling with the one member he was fighting, not wanting the best day of his life to end like this, "You know you guys butted in on what's the best day of my life."

"So sue me." the punk answered, as he broke the grapple.

Featherweight being the weakest of the group found himself getting arm locked by his opponent, and was crying in pain, "Say uncle." the punk teased.

"UNCLE! UNCLE!" Featherweight cried in pain, while Spike, and the others wanted to help him, but were blocked off by their own opponents.

Dante looking at Featherweight in pain was worried, until a frown started forming on his face, and his eyes started squinting. He clenched his fists before roaring, "LET HIM GO!" he plowed his own opponent away and grabbed Featherweight's opponent before throwing him to the ground. The punk got up and tried to attack him with Dante's opponent, but he elbowed the two in the guts making them back off.

Spike and the guys watching Dante go into a berserk mode on the punks, got confident enough to fight back. So they roared like wild beasts and began taking the fight to the punks. Even Featherweight grabbed one from behind and rammed him into a wall. The seven finally managed to defeat the punks who turned tail and ran like sissies.

"Yeah, we did it!" Spike cheered, as the boys high fived, until they saw Dante taking deep breaths.

"Dante, you ok?" Twistin' asked, as they went over to him.

"Yeah. I'm ok." he replied, taking in one last breath before calming down.

"That was incredible there." Pipsqueak said in admiration.

"Yeah, you went all batshit crazy on them." Puck added in equal admiration.

"How'd ya do that?" Koda asked.

"It's something I've always had. Whenever I see someone I consider close to me like a friend get in trouble like Featherweight was in, I go into this protective state for them."

"Like a split personality?" Spike asked.

"Something like that."

"Well, whatever the case you saved me. Thanks." Featherweight thanked him.

Dante smiled, "You're welcome."

"Don't you see, Dante? You do care," Spike spoke up, "You were willing to fight for Featherweight's safety and at the same time helped encourage us to fight harder. You are a true friend."

Dante looked back on his action and realized he wouldn't have gone into such a protector state if he didn't consider Featherweight or any of the others his friends. He smiled, and spoke, "Thanks. You were right, I can still trust others. I've been so wrapped up in ym fear of losing others like before I didn't stop to even try again. But now I feel more than confident with you guys as my friends things will be truly different."

"That's what we're here for." Twistin' said, as the boys stood together, as Featherweight spoke up.

"Oh, this is so touching. I feel a group hug coming on."

The others looked at each other before answering him simultaneously, "No you don't."

"Come on, guys. Real friends hug." Featherweight said, with open arms.

"Maybe another time." Puck brushed it off.

"Come here." Featherweight ordered.

"Get away from me." Dante avoided his attempt for a hug.

"Let's run!" Spike suggested, as they started running with Featherweight chasing after them wanting a group hug.

When nighttime came, the guys went home, except for Spike and Dante who were walking up to Spike's place, "Well, this is where I get off." Spike said.

"Thanks again for inviting me out today, Spike. I'm glad to now have a friend like you and the guys." Dante thanked him.

"No sweat. Next time you should join me and the girls. They'd like to know you as well."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"Until then." Spike began, as the two fist bumped. Spike went into the apartment, as Dante headed off.

Spike entered his apartment room, seeing Twilight, "Hey, Twilight."

"Hi, Spike. How did it go with the boy you spoke of?" she asked.

"Better than I expected. Me and the guys made a new friend this summer."

"Well, good for you." she smiled.

"Yeah, well I'm hitting the sack." Spike said, as he turned into his room to sleep.

Comments

[randomsurprise]

I'm glad Dante's givin friendship another run n' that he helped out Feather when that punk was harrassin him . Hopefully that'll be t last time we see that gang around anytime soon